Loss

All I know is that the SNL parody made me respect her a little. It showed that she's clearly in on her own joke. She has no false ideas about who she is and has no problems making fun of herself.

Best of February 2011 #1 - Edge vs Rey Misterio vs Big Show vs Kane vs Wade Barrett vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Elimination Chamber 02/20/11) **** #2 - John Cena vs Randy Orton vs CM Punk vs John Morrison vs R-Truth vs Sheamus (WWE Elimination Chamber 02/20/11) ***3/4 #3 - Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fuji vs Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi (Dragon Gate 02/06/11) ***3/4 #4 - Angel Azteca Jr. , Angel de Oro & Angel de Plata vs Virus, Cancerbero & Raziel (CMLL 02/04/11) ***1/2 #5 - Jerry Lawler vs The Miz (WWE Elimination Chamber 02/20/11) *** #6 - James Mason vs Dean Allmark (ASW 02/06/11)

John Cena vs Randy Orton vs CM Punk vs John Morrison vs R-Truth vs Sheamus (WWE Elimination Chamber 02/20/11) Some of the small stuff here bugs me, like Orton going for a suplex and Sheamus putting himself perfectly in position for it without Orton even having to struggle much. The stuff before everyone was in the ring was much better in this match than in the Smackdown version thanks to Orton delivering a strong performance. I loved the stuff they did with Punk getting quickly eliminated because he got stuck in the pod, and even the bullshit with the GM announcement. What would Hornswaggle's motivation be for helping Punk? I probably shouldn't ask that. Anyway, this was far more violent and interesting early on than the Smackdown match. The Orton/Punk stuff really works in building heat for the Mania match with Punk doing some really terrific heel stuff. I love that booking. I also thought they did a really good job of getting over the idea that John Morrison was willing to sacrifice his body to win and he sold his knee injury really well. On the downside, check out Sheamus bushwhacking Cena before he gets out of his pod and trying to do the same to R-Truth to no avail. I really hate that spot because Truth shouldn't be getting out of stuff that takes down Cena. It seems backwards. Morrison's spot from the ceiling seemed like it was going to be something cooler than it was too, considering how it started. But those things are really my only quibbles here. I like the Smackdown match better overall despite this match having generally higher peaks, simply because it also had lower points too. Still, this was a really terrific match that capped off a strong PPV.

The Miz vs Jerry Lawler (WWE Elimination Chamber 02/20/11) This was good, but I think their first match on RAW was much better than this. Lawler shows that he's barely lost a step from his peak (if in fact he has at all). I realize they are setting up Wrestlemania, but Michael Cole is completely unbearable and destroys this match for me. Cole taking the bump was a really satisfying moment though, for that precise reason. Lawler is still executing superplexes and DDTs, jumping off the top rope and keeping the crowd involved with some tremendous false finishes, so I give him lots of credit. I also think Miz did a good job of making Lawler look like a worthwhile challenger (which admittedly wasn't too hard) and Alex Riley was such an effective heat seeking second for Miz. But I think this is more a match to point to that says Jerry still had it in 2011 than it is a great match. It wasn't the in-ring work, it was the overall presentation that took it down a notch. There's too much you'd have to look past or ignore to appreciate this, and it's sad because most of it is out of control of Lawler or Miz.

Edge vs Rey Misterio vs Big Show vs Kane vs Wade Barrett vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Elimination Chamber 02/20/11) Edge and Rey do their thing, then Wade Barrett joins them, then Kane joins them, but this match is a total snoozefest until Drew McIntyre tags in and is awesome, going on a tear and showing tons of aggression. Everyone is busting their asses, don't get me wrong, but Drew seems to be the only guy wrestling like something really special is at stake, so I give him tons of credit for that. Big Show comes in and follows suit, as does everyone else, but Drew was the guy who took ignited this match so it could go to the next level and I wish he could have lasted longer. Edge and Rey start this off and finish this off, and have a really great final stretch with some awesome familiarity spots and counters to each other's big moves. Edge vs Rey stands as a great WWE-style match on its own. The best EC match I can recall seeing, as it's usually not a match that does anything for me.

This was around the time their marriage started falling apart I believe, but the WWF was cold and Randy Savage was still a very capable performer. Throw in Hogan reeling from the Arsenio Hall stuff and the steroid scandal and Ultimate Warrior departing and I can see Vince aiming to get this guy back in the thick of things.

I'm not sure of specifics, but I do know this: (1) Randy Savage had every intention of really retiring. He and Liz were going to start a family. (2) Savage performed with a broken thumb at Wrestlemania. I'm not sure if those two things affected how this feud was booked, but I would suppose they did.

James Mason vs Dean Allmark (ASW 02/06/11) I don't really know enough about this style to call this average, but this sure felt average. No real drama or excitement building within the match. Just a lot of wrestling exchanges that never really take the match anywhere. I didn't care for this.

Maasaki Mochizuki & Don Fuji vs Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi (Dragon Gate 02/06/11) This was very good. Lots of heel aggression with a nice in-match storyline. Much better than I expected based on previous Dragon Gate I've seen. They do a great job working over Saito's neck. Saito plays FIP and is the weakest guy in this match, but he's carried nicely and the work from Fuji and in particular Mochizuki is enough to overcome it. The guy looks like someone with superstar potential. Horiguchi is wacky enough as a personality that he makes a really fun cleanup guy after the hot tag, to a point where I wasn't crazy about Saito recovering so quickly after the beating he took. This isn't a perfect match, but anyone who's not a fan of DG should probably check this out, as it's not all a standard spotfest and you might be surprised by the solid match layout, pacing that allows everything to have meaning and even the healthy dose of violence.

Angel Azteca Jr., Angel de Oro & Angel de Plata vs Cancerbero, Raziel & Virus (CMLL 02/04/11) Really good working of the trios match formula that starts with strong rude dominance before the technicos stage their comeback in the second acid. Virus's team, whatever they are called, have some really excellent teamwork in this one. The technico team with their overreliance on superkicks is what they are (I don't want to sell them too short, as they have some tremendous highspots at their disposal) but Virus's team is off the charts. How exactly did Virus transition from minis anyway?

Best of January 2011 #1 - Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda (DDT 01/30/11) ***** #2 - Claudio Castagnoli vs El Generico (PWG 01/29/11) **** #3 - Dingo vs Akira Tozawa (ACW 01/16/11) ***3/4 #4 - The Miz vs John Morrison (WWE Monday Night RAW 01/03/11, Falls Count Anywhere) ***3/4 #5 - Mark Sterling vs Jeremy Wyatt (3XW 01/07/11, No DQ Iron Man Match) ***1/2 #6 - Yoshihiro Takayama vs KENTA (NOAH 01/15/11) *** #7 - Naruki Doi & Ricochet vs Masato Yoshino & PAC (Dragon Gate USA 01/29/11) #8 - Kevin Steen vs Chris Hero (PWG 01/29/11) #9 - Big Show vs Cody Rhodes vs Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Friday Night Smackdown 01/07/11) #10 - Rey Misterio vs Alberto Del Rio (WWE Friday Night Smackdown 01/07/11) #11 - Derrick King Enterprises vs Picture Perfect (SAW 01/22/11)

Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda (DDT 01/30/11) This is my favorite match of 2011, the first real classic I've seen from the year, and something that would hold up well next to almost any match ever. Stiff as hell with really engaging matwork and nice psychology. Togo sells his ass off for Honda's tremendous attack on his arm, which starts right from the opening bell and which probably wasn't too difficult considering the beating he was taking. Honda lands a beautiful tope. Togo rallies a nice babyface comeback and makes Honda pay for his crimes, with Honda covered in blood and falling prey to some incredible punches from Togo. But Honda still has some fight in him and delivers an amazing comeback on his own. Every time I think this match has peaked, it peaks higher. Some really outstanding and desperate nearfalls in the last few minutes of this and a nice decisive finish. Just a brutal match and a total war. This is what wrestling is all about, and if I ever had a compilation commissioned of my all-time favorite wrestling stuff, this would absolutely be on it.

Dusty is a worker through and through, but it was a fun read. There are some guys who are just incapable of turning off the gimmick (in a good way) and I think Dusty is in that category. So are Hogan and Cena.

The stuff about Rock having lines on his hand was worked storyline to continue adding to the idea that they were "shooting" on each other because there was legit heat. Some lines were scripted, some were ad-libbed, but they were just working an angle and doing business. I don't think there was ever a hatchet to bury. They made people think they really hated each other to sell a match and it worked because both guys are great pros.

During an interview with the UK Sun, Cena criticized Rock for leaving WWE and then started doing it regularly when he was asked about Rock in other interviews. He took a ton of heat for it, and it turned out it was Vince instructing him to do this because he thought he could eventually turn it into an angle. Cena eventually insisted that he stop saying this stuff in interviews because he was getting so much heat for it. I don't think Rock was happy with the comments, but I don't think it was ever a personal issue between Rock and Cena as much as it was Vince trying to work an angle that ended up succeeding. The whole idea that there was legit heat between the two was a big selling point for the match, so they tried to preserve that public perception as much as they could.

Naruki Doi & Ricochet vs Masato Yoshino & PAC (Dragon Gate 01/29/11) These guys are amazing athletes, but if pro wrestling had a Harlem Globetrotters, it would be this style. Something I can appreciate, but not really what I want my wrestling to be. PAC is almost inhuman and it's impressive as hell. But wrestling that seems like choreographed stunt work is just not my thing. Still, more power to them for doing what they do.

Claudio Castagnoli vs El Generico (PWG 01/29/11) This was a great match, probably my favorite so far. My first time to see El Generico, who I really liked. Claudio was a great base for all of Generico's offense. I loved the backbreaker on the apron spot that gave us Claudio control. Claudio works over Generico's knee and Generico sells it well. I think Generico's good underdog selling and Claudio's unique offense are what makes this work. Again, I'm surprised at how different this is than indy wrestling was in 2006. They aren't really breaking new ground in most of what they're doing, but so what? Both guys are confident in their act, and this has some awesome looking spots, a nice basic narrative and gets the crowd involved. What's not to love?

Kevin Steen vs Chris Hero (PWG 01/29/11) This is the first time I've seen Hero since his Barry Windham makeover. It's a good look for him. This match didn't really stand out much for me. Some great strikes from both guys. Not a fan of the crowd brawling. Hero's comeback was good and he times the "smack" sound effects on his spots really well, but I don't like the flippy floppy stuff from him. It looks too contrived. Too many kickouts in this one too. I will say that it's interesting how basic indy wrestling has become compared to where it was a few years before this. (I say that not having seen any ROH or DGUSA yet.) But this is definitely worked as an actual heavyweight match. Even though I don't think the match was all that good, I do appreciate that.

Thanks! Added everything to the master list.

Thanks guys! Glad you like the show.